LEGAL CASE STUDY

Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith, LLP

Renowned Law Firm Reduces Cost and Risk by Moving from Legacy Software to AccessData E-Discovery Suite

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IntroductionSolomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith, LLP is a San Diego-based law firm that has provided legal services to a diverse business clientele for over 35 years. Our transactional and litigation services range from business and corporate law, real estate and construction law, employment law, international law, taxation, trust and estates, bankruptcy and insolvency to most types of business litigation and even personal injury. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, commercial and investment banks, large real estate and property management companies, large and emerging high-technology corporations and individual entrepreneurs.We handle massive cases by utilizing technology when appropriate, which allows us to compete against larger organizations, yet remain agile and client-focused. This case study will illustrate the success of this strategy since the firm adopted the interoperable tools of a single software provider, AccessData. Using AccessData’s suite of EDRM-spanning e-discovery, forensic analysis and mobile device discovery software, Solomon Ward has become an e-discovery powerhouse able to collect from nearly any data source and to cull case data for highly targeted review. We now offer more effective and expedient e-discovery services to our clients while at the same time passing the resultant cost savings on to them.

Moving from Multiple Tools to an Integrated PlatformUntil we acquired AccessData’s e-discovery technology, Summation, in May 2012, we used a combination of “best of breed” tools to address e-discovery. Like most firms, we found that much of our time was spent transferring data between two platforms. Solomon Ward’s senior litigation paralegal and litigation support analyst, Laney Schatz, manages our firm’s e-discovery workflow. She knew that we needed a faster and more efficient solution to cut through the huge amounts of data that were becoming a routine part of our cases. Despite extensive experience with a number of leading e-discovery tools, including Clearwell and Guidance EnCase, Ms. Schatz advised installing AccessData’s new web-based product, Summation, because it was simple to use and could handle the e-discovery workflow from processing to production in a single platform.

We agreed to sign on for the initial release of Summation and, in many ways, were alpha testers. We worked closely with AccessData to accomplish the early install. During those first weeks, our team was in regular contact with AccessData and provided them with a steady stream of feedback and feature requests ranging from requests for additional filtering capabilities to assistance with implementation of our new workflow. Their team was responsive and engaged. The technical account manager assigned to us was available to Schatz at all hours, including weekends, and guided her through the transition. Soon—just a few weeks in—we were running smoothly on the new platform and were able to migrate our entire case load to Summation.

By: William N. Kammer, Partner, Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith, LLP

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Summation Reduces Firm’s Costs while Increasing Efficiancy Since implementing Summation, we have been able to ingest and process data at costs that are greatly reduced compared to the rates of most current litigation service providers. By utilizing the platform’s ECA tools, its predictive coding engine and filters, we can now easily and defensibly cull irrelevant data prior to human review. By reducing the amount of documents that we have to review at the beginning of discovery, we can move quickly to target those documents most likely to reveal relevant information. This allows us to respond quickly to discovery requests and to begin building our case with fewer billable hours, leading our clients to the settlement table in less time, which saves them both time and money.

In addition, once those documents reach the human review stage, Summation continues to assist us with email clustering tools, near duplicate identification, fuzzy searching and an array of pre-populated review filters. Ms. Schatz uses the visual analytic tools to analyze social relationships, file-type distributions across the universe and patterns of email activity. These tools function like mind maps on the data, creating graphical representations that guide her review strategy. By revealing anomalies and unexpected connections, the tools help her target potential hot spots in the collection. She then assigns these documents a high priority for further review.

Summation in Action: Early Stage Document Processing, Review, & ProductionA client recently handed us almost a terabyte of data on 14 hard drives produced by 14 custodians. All of the drives contained PSTs, documents and innumerable file types. We had to import, review and process that data into rolling productions for opposing counsel prior to the imminent start of depositions. Using Summation, we were able to import the data in its native format and to begin reviewing it without having to export and then reload the data into a separate review tool. The entire process took only 18 hours—our previous method would have taken at least a week. This saved a tremendous amount of time and allowed us to begin filtering and screening the data, using facets, and excluding unwanted file extensions and irrelevant domain names. Doing this, we quickly isolated the data we wanted to review and met our deposition deadlines.

Summation in Action: Visual Analytics Lead to Targeted DiscoveriesIn several other cases since our install, Summation’s analysis tools have led us to relevant information much faster than our previous methods would have. For instance, using Summation’s email visualization tools we can construct a timeline that illustrates relationships within collected emails based on metadata. We can easily identify the frequency of communication between two parties over a range of time and zoom in on a range where the frequency increased. In a recent dispute involving contract negotiations, the team used Summation’s email visualization

Since implementing Summation, we have been able to ingest and process data at costs that are greatly reduced compared to the rates of most current litigation service providers.

William N. Kammer, Partner, Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith, LLP

With Summation, the entire process of importing a terabyte of data took only 18 hours. Our previous method would have taken at least a week.

William N. Kammer, Partner, Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith, LLP

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tools’ visual timeline to catch the earliest communications between several key players in just a fraction of the time we expected. In another matter, an employment dispute, we identified undisclosed email aliases used by the opposing plaintiff. In still another matter, Ms. Schatz identified potential witnesses after the email analyzer showed high volumes of email traffic between the plaintiff and third parties outside of the company.

Beyond Summation and on to Mobile and Forensic E-DiscoveryAfter fully implementing Summation, Solomon Ward decided to deepen our forensic analysis and to add mobile device review capabilities. We brought in two more AccessData products: Mobile Phone Examiner+ (MPE+) and Forensic Toolkit (FTK). MPE+, which we began using in March 2013, collects evidence found on more than 7000 models of smart phones and tablets and supports the review of extracted data either within MPE+ or alongside other case data within Summation. Laney Schatz was so impressed with the tool that she became a certified user through AccessData’s training program. Because mobile phones and tablets are an incredibly rich, but often overlooked, source of electronic evidence, our ability to offer mobile device e-discovery services with MPE+ differentiates us from other firms.

FTK, AccessData’s flagship forensic analysis tool, is the processing core that powers Summation and MPE+. It reviews every corner of a memory device and uncovers deleted files, cracks passwords and identifies duplicates. Like Summation and MPE+, FTK is quite intuitive, and our firm’s familiarity with Summation lowered our learning curve. We use it as a supplement to our review process, to examine the authenticity of opposing productions and to reclaim previously unreachable data from our clients’ machines. With FTK and MPE+, we offer our clients in-house resources that most other firms cannot offer without assistance from third-party vendors.

Conclusion—Cutting through the Noise and into the IssuesOur adoption of AccessData tools has streamlined our workflow. With Summation, MPE+ and FTK, we can perform thorough collection, processing and advanced analysis without exporting and reimporting data at each step. Because each AccessData application utilizes the same database, we are able to maintain forensic integrity and reduce risk. In parallel, we have significantly accelerated the delivery of data to our attorneys and cost savings to our clients. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, with AccessData cutting through the irrelevant “noise” that used to demand our time and attention, our attorneys and paralegals are free to focus on substantive issues as they pursue the next evidentiary breakthrough.

Because each AccessData application utilizes the same database, we are able to maintain forensic integrity and reduce risk.

William N. Kammer, Partner, Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith, LLP

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AccessData Group makes the world’s most advanced and intuitive incident resolution solutions.  AccessData technology delivers real-time insight, analysis, response and resolution of data incidents, including cyber threats, insider threats, mobile and BYOD risk, GRC (Governance Risk & Compliance) and eDiscovery events. Over 130,000 users in law enforcement, government agencies, corporations and law firms around the world rely on AccessData software to protect them against the risks present in today’s environment of continuous compromise.© 2014 AccessData Group. AccessData, Summation, AD eDiscovery, FTK and MPE+ are registered trademarks of AccessData Group. All Rights Reserved.

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